Armor
by Verdot
Summary: Final Fantasy IV. Cecil had always insisted on chastity. Rosa disagreed, even when phantom armor got in her way.


**Notes:** So, this resulted from talking with a friend about Dark Knight armor actually being fused to the skin (it's true!) and how much I like awkward sexytimes fic. XD Cecil's problems with exposure are totally headcanon now.

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><p>It had been Cecil's insistence that they keep putting it off. Rosa had made her wants clear long before his horrible mission in Mysidia, but he had always insisted on chastity. She had thought at first he was looking after some view on virtue, but it was an unspoken fact that marriage was merely a formality for other people.<p>

Rosa, meanwhile, had plenty of impure thoughts about him, since she was old enough to have such thoughts.

"We'll be married in a couple weeks, Rosa." He said gently, smiling, but carefully taking her wrists and moving her hands away. She frowned.

"What's wrong? I know you love me but do you... do you not find me attractive?" A rock settled in her stomach. Just her luck, she falls in love with the one man that doesn't _want_ her.

"Oh no no. You're lovely, and most certainly attractive." He looked her over, as if making his point. But like always, he was distracting the issue with words, an endearing and also frustrating trait of his.

"Then why, as my husband-to-be, aren't you _showing_ me how attractive I am to you?" Rosa had always been told that the woman had to let the man come to her, but she'd learned not to wait on Cecil when it came to certain things. And so far he had appreciated her initiative.

Except currently, as he looked almost... _frightened._

She slowly pulled his headband off, and tangled her fingers in his hair. "Cecil, I'm not going to hurt you."

He swallowed. "All those years... do you know much about Dark armor?"

Rosa wanted to move past the headband, but she knew to take it slow. "Not much, besides the fact it hid everything beautiful about you."

"Well it fuses to the wearer's skin. Like... like an exoskeleton."

She kissed his jaw where it met his neck, silently encouraging him to continue.

"When you take off anything but the helm it... it feels like acid, knives, everything painful and unpleasant you can imagine. Because it demands loyalty from the wearer. We learned to sleep in it, working around it."

"But you don't wear that any longer."

"No." He looked at his hand and balled it into a fist. "But I can't help but feel it on my skin sometimes, still. And to feel even this armor absent makes me feel..."

"Exposed."

He cupped her chin and kissed her lightly. "I was afraid you'd find it... odd. I was going to overcome it by the time we were married."

Rosa made a 'tsk' sound. "By now you should have learned that you can't take on everything alone. If anything hurts, I can heal it. Like always."

"Now?"

"Yes, it's not like we'll have a lot of time before the wedding. You get the lower half, I'll get the upper half and we'll meet in the middle."

He nodded. "A-alright."

Rosa made sure to work slowly with his armor, the fastenings were needlessly complex in places and he also tensed whenever the weight was lifted. It was heavy plate, though it was lighter than what he used to wear. If not for magic, he probably wouldn't have been able to move at all.

She was glad that a mage worked best without too much physical protection getting in the way. Rosa herself had taken measures to wear as little as possible when she'd snuck into his room, and was glad she had.

"There. You're several pounds lighter now." She looked Cecil over; the thin undershirt and breeches were all that remained. He shivered a bit in the moonlight.

Rosa began by rubbing his back, working out the tense muscles from all the talks, all the fights, and his own unease. She wasn't using any magic, but he responded like she was, practically melting into her. If she kept this up, he'd likely fall into a very contented sleep.

Which she didn't want to happen.

Castle ladies had mentioned that it was a bold move to straddle a man in their gossips. But if it didn't work, well, why would they be talking about it? And the response from Cecil when she properly sat on him was encouraging.

"Rosa I..."

"Shh. You can talk when we're done."

The next morning was a minor scandal. The Redwing cadet who greeted Cecil in the morning with news from around the castle hadn't been prepared for Rosa's presence, nor her complete nonchalance with their collective state of undress.

Cecil had, of course, started dressing as soon as the poor boy left, but Rosa merely pulled up the covers and enjoyed the view.


End file.
